States' Case Vs. Oracle Draws Cheers, Jeers

Apparently there are no fence-sitters when it comes to Oracle's $9.4 billion proposal to acquire PeopleSoft. (Quote, Chart)

The Attorneys General of Connecticut and Ohio filed a motion in federal
District Court in San Francisco late Wednesday to intervene in the antitrust
suit brought forward by the U.S. Justice Department.

The government is
seeking to block the unsolicited bid that it claims reduces the number of
firms offering a full array of enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools
down to two. Currently, German-owned SAP (Quote, Chart) leads the pack with Oracle and
PeopleSoft trailing.

Connecticut and Ohio now join eight other states including Michigan,
which also filed paperwork Wednesday to stand underneath the umbrella of the
DoJ's case. Connecticut had filed its own suit in state court
when the original deal was announced in June 2003. This is the first time
Ohio has entered into the argument.